Everywhere You Look
by Kb215
Summary: It had taken moving back home, a place without the music, clubs, and drinking to block out the silence to make her realize it, but she loved this. The feeling of having a bigger purpose than spinning records at parties. The way that Tommy reached out his arms for her. The way Max giggled at all her jokes. The way Jackson talked to her about his day. She loved this. She wanted this.
1. Chapter 1

"Look who's getting sucked into the vortex of motherhood." The words rung over and over again in Stephanie's head. She couldn't sleep. A year ago, she would have jumped out of bed, thrown on an old pair of ripped jeans and a shirt, grabbed her purse and left her loft in England. She would have walked down Third Avenue, popping in and out of pubs, clubs, drinking, flirting, doing whatever she wanted until sleep finally found her. She'd drag herself back to her loft, exhausted, drunk, or close enough anyway, so that all she had to do was fall into bed. _Just keep going until you can't go anymore. Don't give yourself time to think._

But she wasn't in England anymore, and she wasn't responsible for just herself either. Here, people counted on her. She couldn't leave at 2 a.m and crawl back into bed at 10. D.J. would need her in the morning to watch Tommy. Max would expect her to be sitting at the kitchen table in the morning so she could quiz him on his spelling words. Jackson would be waiting to read the comics to her. She was needed here.

She threw the covers off her bed and searched with her feet until they hit the fuzz of her slippers. She slid them on and tiptoed up the stairs to the kitchen. She opened the fridge but wasn't sure what she was searching for. Something to fill the void that recently seemed to consumed her. She was pretty sure she wouldn't find that lurking behind the gallon of apple juice.

She started a pot of coffee and sat down at the table as it brewed. Her hands went idly to a toy Tommy had left at the table. Tommy. That's what had started this backward slide. She had never really been around babies much. She could barely remember Michelle as a baby, and even when Nicky and Alex were little, she didn't want much to do with them. Babies were needy, binding, permanent, and her life was – well, not.

But it seemed D.J. had bound her to Tommy. She spent her whole day with the baby – _was he really baby?_ Stephanie wondered. She wasn't sure when people stopped calling babies "babies" or infants "infants." What she did know was that Tommy brought out a side of her she never expected to see. She couldn't help but wonder if that was somehow part of a larger plan D.J. had conspired. Put her with a baby all day and all of the sudden, she'd want a family of her own. _Congrats,_ she thought. _It worked._

Her first day home – the day of the party – she tried to stay away from him as much as possible. Hold him for a few seconds and then pass him on to someone else. Don't spend too much time looking at him. _Just ignore what you don't have and you won't realize what you're missing._ That motto had worked for the past 9 months.

"Steph, what are you doing up so early? Or late?" D.J. asked as she shuffled into the kitchen still her in her robe.

"Oh, just couldn't sleep," Stephanie said as nonchalantly as she could muster, but she knew immediately from the raised eyebrow look of her sister that D.J. wasn't buying it.

"In all the years I've known you," D.J. began as she poured herself some of the leftover coffee and joined Stephanie at the table, "I've never known you to have a problem with sleeping. I'm pretty sure you could sleep through a tornado."

Stephanie laughed, "Yeah. I guess I've always been a bit of a heavy sleeper."

D.J. smiled and moved her hand over Stephanie's. "You want to tell me what's really going on? We didn't really get the chance to finish our conversation earlier."

 _No_ , Stephanie thought. She didn't want to tell anyone what was really going on. Telling people, saying it out loud, that made it real. She wasn't ready for it to be real just yet.

"It's just been a long day is all."

"Well, I didn't spin Coachella last night, but I can imagine," D.J. replied still searching Stephanie's eyes, still not buying the story Stephanie was trying to sell.

"When I was out there, it felt really good," Stephanie started talking, slowly letting walls down, "I've missed music. I've missed getting to do what I loved, but it was different."

"Different how?"

Stephanie took a deep breath and let the warmth of the coffee consume her hands as she held them tightly around the mug while her brain searched for the right words. "Music, deejaying, that was my life. And a year ago, I actually thought I could be happy the rest of my life going into clubs and parties and playing music. I thought that was all I needed."

D.J. nodded understandingly, "But this time was different?"

"It was still amazing, but I got done playing and you weren't there, and neither was Tommy or Max or Jackson, and it was just - I was alone. And music wasn't enough to fill that empty space."

"Stephanie," D.J. said reaching back for her hand, "you are never going to be alone. You'll always have me and the boys, and Dad, Joey, Jesse and Becky-"

"But I'm never going to have what you have," Stephanie interrupted. It was then she felt the warm tears start stringy down her cheeks, "I'm never going to have a family of my own."

"Oh, Steph," D.J. threw herself into full mom-mode as she pulled Stephanie into her hug. "What did the doctor say? Because there are surgeries and procedures now and options. There's always adop-"

"I was pregnant!" It was only the second time she had that sentence out loud. The sound of it, the ways the words tasted in her mouth were foreign. She almost didn't believe it, couldn't understand how ridiculous it sounded. She, Stephanie Tanner, had been pregnant. She must have pulled away from D.J. at some point or D.J. pulled away from her, because she was staring into her sister's shocked and confused face, and she knew she had come to a point where she had to finish the rest of her story.

"I was pregnant." She wiped the tears away from her cheeks and ran a hand through her loose blond curls. "About 8 weeks. I just woke up one morning in a lot of pain and bleeding. I took a cab to the ER, and they did some tests and blood work, and it's just not going to happen for me. I'm never going to have kids of my own." The simple version. The easy version.

DJ was crying now too, concern for her sister written all over her face. "Did you tell anyone?"

"No," Stephanie lied. She had told one other person, but that was a different story - a longer story - and one that she didn't want to get into right now. "It was just easier that way. You guys all had so much going on, and you soak up everyone else's problems like a sponge. You didn't need that on your plate."

"Steph, you know you can tell me anything. Anytime."

"I know, but it was honestly just easier. I wasn't ready for a baby, and I mean a deejay isn't exactly a family-friendly job. You can't just fly a baby halfway around the world. I just told myself it was probably for the better and tried to move on." More lies. Stephanie had lied to herself so much that she wasn't sure what was true or not anymore. Had she wanted the baby? Did she really have the conversation with him about giving up music, moving to England permanently, raising this baby together? "I wasn't ready, so I just moved on. Pretended like it didn't happen, and that worked really well until I moved back here."

 _Worked really well until today._ Stephanie ran her thumb around the curve of her phone. She could pull up the calendar on that phone right now, and scroll to today's date where there was a single word that had been nervously typed in – baby. She remembered sitting in the doctor's office, the nurse confirming that she was indeed pregnant. The doctor talking to her, telling her the due date. It seemed as surreal then as it did now.

"The dad-"

"Just a one time thing." So many lies she had lost count.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Steph." One of the many reasons Stephanie had decided not to tell anyone was to avoid the pity sorry's and cautious eyes that she knew would follow her for months if not years. But D.J.'s were different. Her's were sincere, and Stephanie believed in that minute that if she told her sister giving her one of her boys would make it all better, D.J. would do it.

"Thanks, Deej," Stephanie replied. "I just – I never thought your kids could mean this much to me. I guess it just kind of caught me off guard."

"They do that," D.J. smiled. "They absolutely adore you, Stephanie. We all do. And I'm so thankful that you moved back here to help me. We all love you."

Stephanie smiled at her sister. "I love you guys too."

Tommy's cry escaped over the small baby monitor that seemed to be permanently attached to D.J.'s hip. "That's my cue," D.J. said as she stood up.

"Actually, if you don't mind, can I get him this morning?" Stephanie asked.

"Be my guest!" D.J. delighted as she walked the empty mugs over to the sink and pulled one of his bottles out of the fridge.

Stephanie made the long climb up the stairs, listening to Tommy's coo get louder as she got closer to the nursery. When she quietly opened the door, Tommy was already standing up, supporting his wobbly legs by holding onto the side of the crib. "There's my little guy," Stephanie grinned. Tommy immediately reciprocated and reached out his chubby hands to her.

She scooped him up in her arms and couldn't help but widen her grin as he nuzzled his head into her shoulder. It had taken moving back home, a place without the music, clubs, and drinking to block out the silence to make her realize it, but she loved this. The feeling of having a bigger purpose than spinning records at parties. The way that Tommy reached out his arms for her. The way Max giggled at all her jokes. The way Jackson talked to her about his day. She loved _this_. She wanted _this_. _No,_ she thought. _I need this._ She could do it. She had to. She could figure out a way.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi everyone! I apologize for the long absence. I switched POVs for this short, filler chapter and wrote from DJ's perspective. I'm hoping to have Chapter 3 up by the end of the week. Enjoy!_

Chapter 2

D.J. looked at the pile of unfolded laundry overtaking her bed and sighed. Tommy was taking a nap, Jackson and Max were out with Stephanie for the afternoon, and Kimmy and Ramona were having lunch with Fernando. It was now or never.

She set off meticulously folding the towels like her dad had reinforced since she could remember. Usually, she enjoyed a house this quiet, but today, she would have given anything to for something to preoccupy her mind. She strained her ears in hopes that maybe she could hear Tommy stirring. No luck.

She couldn't seem to get her thoughts off her sister. It had been nearly five weeks since Stephanie came home from Coachella and confided in her that she couldn't have kids, five weeks since she had told her she had actually been pregnant. She tried time and time again to find the right words, the magic combination that would make everything right in her sister's world, but she couldn't figure it out. It was a delicate dance of letting Steph know that she was there if she needed to talk without being overbearing, trying to ask questions to make sense of it all in D.J's mind without ripping open old wounds for her sister. It was a dance that left her and her sister in a weird sort of limbo – each one tiptoeing around the other afraid that someone might break.

D.J. couldn't imagine. Her boys were her life. She wasn't sure who she'd be or what she'd be doing if those three weren't even a possibility _. Possibility._ That was the other word that keep ricocheting around D.J.'s brain. She knew Stephanie had said it wouldn't happen for her – the doctor had told her she wouldn't have kids – but some part of D.J. still had to believe that in maybe the perfect storm it could work. She shook her head. She hadn't told Stephanie that; she knew what her sister would say. Even after losing her husband, D.J. still managed to that hang onto the optimistic outlook she grew up with. Was anything ever really completely out of the question?

She was ready to ignore the rest of the laundry in favor for digging out her laptop and researching infertility treatment options when she heard the doorbell ring. She wasn't sure who she was expecting at 3:30 on a Sunday but it certainly wasn't the tall, athletic-looking stranger who was waiting for her on the front porch.

"'Ello," he smiled sheepishly when D.J. opened the front door.

 _Tall, athletic, and British,_ D.J. corrected herself.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, but um, I was wondering if there is a Stephanie Taylor

who lives here?" The stranger ran his hand through his tousled, dark hair. D.J. couldn't help but noticed that there seemed to be a hint of desperation behind his deep, blue eyes, and she wished she could help.

"Sorry," she said sympathetically, "There isn't anyone here by that name."

"Oh," D.J. watched the hope drain from his face even though he kept his lips fixed in a smile. "It was just, sorry, is this 1709 Broderick Street?"

"Yeah," D.J. replied. "But there isn't a Stephanie Taylor who lives here. There's a Stephanie Tanner."

"Yes!" The handsome stranger nearly yelled, and for a moment, D.J. thought he might hug her. "Yes! That's her! Stephanie Tanner."

D.J. smiled, happy that she could help, but couldn't help but wonder who this man was and why he was looking for her sister. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said as he held out his hand for D.J. to shake. "I'm Leo. Leo Taylor. I'm Stephanie's husband."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to everyone who has favorited/followed/or reviewed this story! I hope that you continue to enjoy it.

Chapter 3

Leo perched on the edge of the couch cushion, not quite sitting back all the way as if he might have to run at any moment. He kept his hands on his knees and tried hard to keep his foot from tapping on the floor below him. He exhaled the breath he was pretty sure he had been holding in since he worked up the courage to ring the doorbell ten, no fifteen, minutes ago.

He glanced around the living room, looking for any traces of Stephanie – that black leather jacket she always wore, or maybe one of her thousands of scarves draped on the back of a chair, but it was spotless. His eyes caught a picture of her on the mantle with the blonde who answered the door – he was sure this had to be D.J. Stephanie had shown him pictures of her family some time ago. He recounted the numerous conversations they had had – often which turned into some form of an argument – about whether they should tell her family about them. Stephanie was adamant that her family didn't need to know anything "yet." He remembered the way she used the word as a sort of treat, keeping Leo hopeful that they would know eventually but not in the meantime.

Leo had grown up without much of a family. He was an only child of a single mom who passed away five years ago when he was twenty-three. He always wondered if his lack of a family growing up was what made him long for a family of his own. He imagined what it was like for Stephanie growing up in this house with sisters and aunts and uncles and was suddenly jealous of the life his wife had been allowed to lead.

He regretted telling D.J. that he was Stephanie's husband. _Stephanie should have gotten to explain that,_ he thought. But he wasn't sure her sister would have taken him seriously if she didn't know who he was, and there was the tiniest hope in the back of Leo's mind that Steph had told them when she moved home – it was clear from the look on D.J.'s face that she had not.

He closed his eyes for a minute and tried to remember the sound of her voice. _What had been the last thing she said to him?_ He couldn't remember. He had spent the better part of the last months replaying that last 24 hours together, looking for something – _anything_ – to tip him off. But he never found anything. He knew things hadn't been amazing after they lost the baby; to say they were both hurting was an understatement. Stephanie had thrown herself into her work, and Leo figured that was just her way of dealing with the situation. Most mornings after his night shifts at the hospital, he'd head to the gym for a few hours taking out his frustrations and grief with treadmills and dumbbells.

Stephanie had been deejaying at a local club the night before, and he was ready to come home that Thursday morning and crawl in bed with his wife. He could distinctly remember that nagging thought as he opened the door to their loft – _she's not here._ And she wasn't. He could still feel the way his chest sank as he picked up the divorce papers off the kitchen table and hear the desperation in his voice as he read the two-line note telling him to sign and return the papers to the listed address. It was a sick joke, it had to be.

He walked around like a zombie those first weeks - or was it months? He checked every club in London, Southampton, and Paris. He went to all their normal spots. He called friends, but the consensus was the same; no one had seen her.

His pursuit became less aggressive – occasionally popping into a club on the weekend or running by their favorite deli for lunch – all with the same hopeful mindset that he would catch a glimpse of his wife, and he'd be able to convince her to come home. He had nearly given up when a headline on Sports Center caught his eye. Leo wasn't much of a sports fan; he was just trying to catch the score of the football match, but instead of seeing the score between Manchester United and Liverpool, he saw a familiar blonde breaking up with baseball player, Hunter Pence. He paused it and ran to the TV as if he could take her in his arms right then. Sure, he realized the fact that she was breaking up with a guy wasn't amazing, but he had found her! He could get answers, he could figure out what went wrong, he could try to win her back.

He ran for his laptop, desperately pounding the letters to spell out her name, and after months of no results, he finally was getting somewhere. She had played Coachella, and there in the background of one of the pictures was her old roommate Ashley. He searched the numbers on his phone, praying he hadn't deleted her number.

Ashley needed little convincing – maybe because it was 3:00 in the morning, and judging by her slurred tone she'd been drinking, but she rattled off Stephanie's address, and Leo was on the next flight out of London. It was hard to believe that was nearly twelve hours ago.

"Sorry about that," D.J. said as she came back in with a glass of water and a baby in her arms. "He woke up hungry."

Leo instinctively smiled at the young boy. "Thank you," he said as he took the glass of water. "I'm really sorry to just barge in," he began. "I imagine this is a bit of a shock for you."

"You could say that," D.J. smiled politely.

Leo smiled politely back. They both sat in the thick silence for a few minutes, both of them wanting to ask a million different questions, but neither of them wanting to without Stephanie.

"Is she happy?" He finally asked when he couldn't stand not knowing the answer to that question for one more minute.

D.J. shrugged apologetically, "She seems happy," she said. "But she's Steph. You never can really tell what she's thinking."

Leo nodded knowingly. _Isn't that the truth,_ he thought.

Just then he heard a door open in the kitchen.

"That's her," D.J. said as she stood up. Leo followed suit. "It might be better if you wait here," she said looking back to him. "Just give me a minute with her."

He took a deep breath and nodded and watched as D.J. disappeared through the door separating the two rooms. _This was it,_ he thought. _After months of being more than 5,000 miles away, his wife was just in the other room._ He prayed, more than anything he ever prayed for before, that this would be worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! Thank you so much to those who continue to read, review, follow, and favorite! One question I got this week was if I planned on introducing other characters into the story like Danny and Jesse - I certainly do! So please stay tuned. This story is out of my element in a few different ways. I'm not one for drama writing and that's what most of this seems to be - I'm hoping that after these first few chapters setting up Stephanie's backstory and as I introduce more characters into the story some of that Full House humor will come into play. I can also genuinely say that I'm not really sure where this story is going to go. Usually, I've got a pretty clear view of where I'm heading and right now I've got about three different road maps I'm playing with. So to those who are staying tuned, thanks for hanging in there! I've got another chapter I'm in the process of editing and hope to have it up this week!

Chapter 4

Stephanie paced the length of her bedroom again. He was there, not even six feet away from her, sitting on her bed and nervously fidgeting with the edge of her bedspread. She paused briefly and watch him. There were small differences – he'd always been athletic, but there was a new definition to his muscles, his hair was a little longer, he was wearing glasses instead of his usual contacts, but it was Leo. He still made her heart flitter nervously inside her chest, still made her stomach do somersaults. In a matter of ten minutes, he had untied and unburied everything that had taken Stephanie nearly a year to pack away. She caught herself falling and shook her head and continued pacing. She had made her decision.

Leo's soft blue eyes didn't leave her as she continued her back and forth path across the room. Stephanie tried not to look at him, but Leo had always had this magical way of locking in on Stephanie's gaze. There was something special about his eyes. She had always been sure Leo's eyes could see straight through her. She was fairly certain he was the only one who could see her for what she was, past her hidden disappointments and insecurities, and still love her. She couldn't dwell on the look of pain and hope that lingered at his surface, and she quickly looked away before he was able to read her thoughts. _I'm doing this for you,_ she thought desperately, trying to make herself believe it.

"Do you want to go first, or should I?" He asked. Hearing his voice made Stephanie stop. Gosh, she had missed him.

She wanted to say that she was sorry, tell him the reason she had been dating all these guys was to try to move on. She wanted to run to him, let him scope her in his arms, feel his lips against hers, listen to him tell her it was all going to be okay. But she could see the hope in his eyes – the hope that all of this was going to end happily ever after like one of those books she would read to Tommy. He deserved that happy ending, and she knew that it wasn't going to happen with her. "Did you bring the papers?" she asked, hating herself a little bit more as the words left her mouth.

She watched the expression on his face fade. He ran a hand through his hair. "I did," he whispered, and Stephanie felt her heart sink. _This is what you wanted,_ she reminded herself. _This is what you have to do. For Leo._ "And if you really want me to sign them – if that's really what you want," he continued, "then I will. But I want answers first. You at least owe me that much."

Stephanie sighed. He deserved some measure of closure, but giving Leo answers would require her to walk a delicate line. She could tell Leo everything, every last detail, and she knew that he would shred the papers and refuse to leave her. And as much as Stephanie wanted that, as much as these last fifteen minutes with her husband had made her remember why she married him in the first place, she couldn't let him give up his change at a happy life for her. She silently nodded her head. She'd tell him what she could, just enough to give him closure, but not enough to stay.


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, so this actually wasn't the chapter I had scheduled to upload, but decided to write another short scene to give a little more insight. Writing this scene with a sleeping baby on my chest made it all the more difficult. Another upload soon 3.

Chapter 5

Stephanie sat down on the edge of her bed next to her husband. It took every ounce of strength she had left to keep herself from reaching over and taking his hand. She wasn't sure where or how to start. She didn't know how to push away the one man she had been willing to give up everything for.

He must have caught onto her silence, "Did I do something that made you leave?" he asked.

"No," Stephanie said, hearing the hurt in his voice and instantly regretting all of this. She couldn't lie to him; she couldn't lie to Leo. He deserved so much more than all of this. "No, this wasn't your fault."

"Were you happy?"

Stephanie didn't have to think about this. Her life with Leo had been some of the best times of her life. He had this way of making her feel alive. "Yes," she answered again. She tried to keep her voice low partially because she was positive at least one set of ears was trying to spy from upstairs and partially because she was afraid he would hear how shaky her voice was.

"Then what?" he was pleading with her, desperate to understand what had made her leave. She wasn't sure she understood anymore.

"Leo," she finally said. "What do you want more than anything in the world?"

"You," he said instantly and so assuredly that it took Stephanie back. _How could he still want her after everything she had put him through?_

"No," she said. "You want a family."

"I want a family with you," he shot back. "I'm still in love –"

"You can't have a family with me," Stephanie cut him off.

"Steph, what happened to us –"

"Wasn't a one-time thing!" she shouted. He stopped and looked at her, and she knew now that she had to continue. "It wasn't something that is just going to happen once, Leo. I went back for my check-up, to make sure things had gone properly. The doctor said something looked off and ran some tests. Leo, if you stay with me you're never going to get that family. You're never going to get your dream. So I left to give you an out. I knew you'd stay with me –"

"Wait," He interrupted. "What are you saying?"

Stephanie felt the fresh sting of tears in her eyes. "I can't have kids, Leo."


	6. Chapter 6

Well, my husband ended up having to work late and that baby who was sleeping on my chest earlier, decided to sleep longer than I expected. So, enjoy another upload today!

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Chapter 6

Leo gently repositioned Stephanie's head on his chest. Her soft snores let him know that she was still asleep. He had held her in his arms, rocking and soothing her as they both cried over the loss of their baby – over the loss of the possibility of a baby together.

Stephanie's words ricocheted around his head. He finally understood. Stephanie left to protect him. She didn't want to trap him into a life he didn't want – into a life she thought he didn't want.

He brushed her blonde curls off her forehead and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Even now, after hours of crying, her eyes swollen, her hair tangled and her cheeks red, she was absolutely as gorgeous as the first time he saw her.

 _He had gone out with a group of friends to a local club. He had never really been one for the club scene and found himself mostly hanging around the bar, checking his phone and pretending to be engrossed in the statuses of his friends on Facebook._

" _Not really your pace?" he heard a voice behind him ask._

" _Not exactly," he replied politely. He smiled as the tall blonde took the seat next to him._

" _The usual," she told the bartender._

" _American?" he asked._

" _Guilty," she smiled sheepishly. "What gave me away? I've really been working on my accent."_

 _Leo was instantly captivated by her smile. "On holiday?" He asked._

" _Work," she replied as the bartender came back with her shot._

" _What do you do?" he asked._

 _A booming voice came over the speakers saying "Everyone, please welcome Deejay Tanner!"_

" _That's my cue," she smiled and gave him a wink as she threw back her shot and made her way toward the stage._

 _She had gone just as quickly as she came, and Leo couldn't help but wonder if the entire thing had been a dream._

 _Finally, he saw her reemerge behind a pile of sound equipment. "Are you guys ready to have a good time?" she called as she adjusted a headphone over one ear._

 _Leo was lost in the roar of the crowd. He lost track of time as he watched her. A touch of a button here, a click of her laptop there, a gentle touch of the record – the music seemed to flow from her. Leo sat transfixed as he listened to the way she seemed to put her heart into the pulse that was streaming through the speakers._

 _He remembered the days following that night. How he would smile for no reason other than remembering her. How he'd catch himself humming and tapping his foot. Before that night, his life had been quiet. In those few late night hours at the club, she had given his life a soundtrack._

 _He was hungry for more; she was a like a drug he needed to stay high. He searched for locations she might be playing, but he quickly learned deejays were hard to track. He caught word of a Stephanie Tanner playing at a local pub and decided it was at least worth investigating._

 _His eyes immediately found her sitting at a keyboard in the corner of the pub. He couldn't remember ordering a drink or finding a seat. He was too engrossed in her voice, too mesmerized by the way her fingers danced across the keys. He watched in awe as she emptied her soul for hours._

 _There was a large applause as she finished her set. He watched as she packed up her things and another band took her place._

" _You're quite good," Leo said as he took the stool beside her at the bar._

 _Stephanie looked up, her blue eyes shining with adrenaline. "Hey, you were at Brixton last week," she said recognizing him at once as the guy who had called her bluff on her fake accent. "Are you stalking me? Cause I should warn you, I'm not quite high profile enough for that yet," she smiled teasingly._

 _Leo was quite certain his heart was going to leap out of his chest. "Not stalking – no," he laughed. "Although, I was hoping maybe you could use a roadie. Perhaps a tambourine player?"_

 _Stephanie laughed with him._

" _Leo Taylor," he said holding out his hand. "Can I buy you a drink?"_

" _Stephanie Tanner," she replied taking his hand in hers. "And I'd like that."_

Stephanie stirred bringing Leo back to reality. There were other ways to have kids – they could adopt, or foster, or find a surrogate, or not have kids at all – Leo wasn't sure. They could figure that out later. What he couldn't live without – what he realized that night nearly two years ago – was that he couldn't live another minute of his life without Stephanie Tanner in it.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while since I updated - school is in full swing again, and I've been busy trying to figure out a new school and teaching a new grade. Please forgive me if my updates are sporadic for a few months. This chapter didn't quite turn out as I planned - I originally thought something more comedic for this moment, but this felt more authentic. I hope that all who are reading continue to stay tuned!

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Stephanie cringed as the stair underneath her let out of a low creak. She quickly glanced back over her shoulder to see Leo still asleep on her bed. She glanced down at her watch again. It was 5:25, which meant that D.J. would be up any minute. She groaned. She wasn't ready for that yet this morning – maybe ever – but the pounding behind her eyes reminded her she needed Advil and caffeine. She just had to be quick.

She reached the top of the steps and cautiously poked her head around the staircase just in case D.J. was already there waiting for her. Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief when all she saw was an empty kitchen. She darted for the medicine cabinet, took the whole bottle of Advil and then began to raid the fridge. She was pretty sure if she played her cards right, she could last two, maybe three days in the basement with Leo. Which, would maybe be just enough time to let this whole thing blow over.

Her arms full of food, she quietly turned back toward the stairs, only to find D.J. blocking them.

"Oh, hey Deej," Stephanie said nervously as she mentally cursed her luck. "I was just heading back downstairs. I'll see you later-"

"Not so fast!" her sister stopped her as she readjusted the tie on her bathrobe. "That's a lot of food for just two people – do you have more husbands downstairs that I need to know about?

 _Okay, so D.J. hadn't forgotten and wasn't going to let it slide._ "Look, do we have to do this now?"

D.J. stayed planted with her arms folded across her chest. "We can wait another hour or so, then Kimmy and the kids can join us."

"Now works for me," Stephanie quickly decided as she dropped the food on the counter and fumbled with the bottle of Advil.

D.J. moved away from her blockade of the stairs and started a pot of coffee. If Stephanie sprinted, she was fairly sure she could get to the door before D.J. could reach her. She glanced at her sister and decided not to the take the chance. She mentally cursed her sister's passion for spinning classes.

D.J. slid a mug of coffee in front of Stephanie and sat down at the table beside her. "Thanks," Stephanie said as she took the drink. "I don't really know where to start."

"You could start with the husband that none of us knew you had."

Stephanie could hear the hurt in her sister's voice; she had prepared herself for this, or at least, she thought she had.

She took a deep breath and began, "I met Leo about two and half years ago – the first time I went over to London. It was," she stopped herself briefly, realizing that what she was about to say would make her sound like a teenage girl, but Stephanie didn't care anymore. She hadn't said these things to anyone before, and maybe it was the sanctuary of the early morning and the quiet house, or maybe it was the fact that after nearly a year of being away, Leo was just a few feet from her, but she felt like she no longer had anything to lose. "It was love like what you and Tommy had. He became my world – it's part of why I stayed in Europe as long as I did. I'd go off and spin a weekend in Spain or a few weeks in France, but I knew that when I came back Leo would always be waiting for me. My schedule was crazy, my life didn't seem to have any real direction, and he became my constant."

"He's been in your life for nearly three years, and we didn't meet him until yesterday?" D.J. questioned.

"You got that tattoo in college and kept it a secret for like six months!" Stephanie retorted.

"A tattoo isn't quite the same as a husband, Steph."

Stephanie sighed. She knew her sister was right. "Deej, you know me. You know that I'm not cut out for marriage and a family – at least that's what I thought," Stephanie shook her head as if to put it out of her mind. "I didn't know where it would go. I loved him – but he had a life in London. I had a life here. I figured, eventually it would end."

"But it didn't end," D.J. encouraged her to keep going.

"Not how I thought it would," Stephanie admitted as she took a long sip of her coffee. "When Tommy died, Leo wanted to come here with me. He wanted to meet you all, but it just didn't seem right. When I got back, I don't know. I just realized that life is too short to not be with the person you love, so I told him I would stay in London, I'd go anywhere he wanted as long as I could be with him. So we got married." Stephanie's eyes didn't leave the table as she picked at an imaginary piece of dirt under her thumb nail. "We weren't trying to start a family. Our lives were too crazy – I missed you guys and was trying to figure out a way to convince Leo to come to the states, and then I missed my period." Stephanie stopped and looked over at her sister, wishing D.J. would give her some indication to stop. She mentally cursed herself for coming upstairs.

"He was ecstatic. I was scared out of my mind, but I agreed to stay in London. We were going to come to San Francisco and tell you guys, but then – well, you know. I didn't tell Leo I couldn't have children. I didn't want him to feel trapped. So I left. I signed divorce papers; I gave him an out, and I moved back here."

"He didn't want the out, did he?" D.J. asked.

Stephanie shook her head no, "Not even after I told him last night."

D.J. smiled and put her hand over her sister's. "I wish you wouldn't have kept him from us. I wish you wouldn't have kept any of this from us."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"So," D.J. sighed. "What now?"

"I don't know," Stephanie said honestly. "He wants a family more than anything, Deej, and I'm not sure he really understands that I can't give him that. He says he wants to stay, but what if he changes his mind, what if-"

"Do you love him, Steph?" D.J. interrupted.

"I haven't seen him in –"

"Do you love him?" D.J. repeated.

Stephanie stared at her sister for a moment before answering. She could see the distant layer of pain that still laid buried in D.J.'s eyes – the pain of losing someone who had meant so much to her. Above that though, she couldn't help but notice the glimmer of hope that sparkled – hope that maybe love didn't have to just happen once. Hope that maybe love could heal the brokenness that loss creates.

"I do," Stephanie admitted. "I still love him."

"Does he still love you?" she asked.

"I think so," Stephanie nodded.

D.J. smiled. "Then let him find a family with us the same way you did. Take comfort in getting a second chance at love – not everyone is that lucky."

Stephanie could feel the hot sting of tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Tears for everything their family had lost. But maybe D.J. was right. Maybe she was luckier than she thought. Stephanie stood up and wrapped her arms around her sister.

"Do we have to tell Dad?" Stephanie asked when she pulled away.

"There's no 'we' about this!" D.J. said as she put her hands up innocently. "And yes, you have to tell him, but maybe not right away."

"Really?" Stephanie asked.

"Not unless you want to kill him. No, give him a month or so. Let him meet Leo and get to know him. Then you can tell him."

"What about Kimmy?" Stephanie asked.

"Well, if you don't want the whole world to know, I'd maybe just keep this between you and me for now."

Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief. "I really don't know what I'd do without you," she said.

"Trust me, I know," D.J. teased. "But Steph, if you ever get married again, please tell me before the wedding."

Stephanie smiled, "Deal."


End file.
